Chapter 19

NINETEEN

E lias skidded down the companionway, using it like a slide rather than a staircase. At the bottom, he clung to the rail along the wall. Even though Theo kept the ship more steady than Qek, they were still maneuvering. The door to the med bay slid open and the sharp odor of vomit wafted out. Fixer sat wedged between one of the beds and a console unit, Nessa sprawled across his lap. Both were pale and listless. Then Nessa convulsed and gagged. Fix made sluggish motions mostly consisting of smoothing Nessa's hair back.

"What's the situation?" Elias assumed what the crew called his captain face, hoping it would hide his worry.

Fixer looked up, hazel eyes dull, brow pinched with pain. "I think she has a concussion. I'm trying not to let her choke."

For a moment, Elias forgot how to flow, how to remain afloat in the stream of life. He'd seen his friends through some scrapes. They might possibly have looked worse after their altercation with the Agrius cartel. They'd looked pretty bad after a night on Risus with some unfriendly local fauna. Hell, he'd crossed the stin border with these two, risking a hard-won peace for the sake of their crew. But for some reason, this was worse—because Nessa wasn't snapping and crackling, threatening to cuff the lot of them if they didn't get on with the business of doing what they needed to do.

Elias dropped to his knees in front of them and swallowed against the stench soaking Fixer's pants and the floor beside him. "Tell me what to do."

Nessa opened her eyes. "I'll be fine," she whispered. "Just need a minute."

"Nope, we're not doing that. You're going to let us take care of you for once." Elias picked up the bulky medical wallet lying just clear of the pool of vomit. "Know how to use this, Fix?"

Fixer made a frustrated sound. "I couldn't even get it open."

Elias opened the wallet. A display spread across the sickly faces in front of him. He selected the general diagnostic tool and began scanning Nessa. "Still can't move the arm?"

"I think I got my fingers to twitch when I was trying to open the damn wallet. I can feel it, feel shit with it, but that's all so far."

"Sounds like progress to me."

Elias consulted the wallet interface. "No fractures and minimal intracranial pressure. I don't know what the hell a hematoma is, but I'm guessing it's that egg on your head. Suggested care is ice. Pain meds recommended if the patient is lucid."

"It's a bruise, that's all," Nessa said.

"That huge lump?"

"A hematoma. And, yes, I mean this lump." She prodded her forehead. "Ouch. I'm going to say I'm lucid enough for pain meds."

The Chaos shuddered and groaned.

"Is Theo flying?" Fix asked.

" Fixer? Captain? " Qek voice squawked through the general channel.

"What's up?" Elias asked.

"Ambassador Paredes is going to try some advanced maneuvers. He suggests you strap yourselves in."

Faintly, in the background, Theo called out, "I'm going to try a chandelle!"

"A what?" Elias asked.

Fixer's face lost color he didn't have. "He'll wait for the Magdalene to draw close, then execute a 180-degree turn with a climb, the climb being relative in space." He raised his voice, speaking through the open channel. "Qek, reroute power from the aft shields. Should give us enough oomph for a series of loops if Theo needs it."

"I have already entered the subroutine to do so," she answered.

"You're a rock star."

"I will ask you to clarify that reference later."

Elias fervently hoped there was a later, for all of them—even the hapless cultists. Nessa had managed to push herself into a sitting position beside Fix. She seemed to be having trouble steadying her gaze.

Elias quickly scanned the rest of the medical instructions and all the related links. The diagnostic procedure only looked simple. If he started down her list of symptoms, they could be here for hours, and Theo was about to fling them upside down or some shit. "I'm going to lift you into the bed and strap you down. Can you climb onto the other one, Fix?"

Fix jutted his chin forward. "Like hell you're going to strap me back into that bed. I should get down to the c-core. Rerouting power for precise maneuvers is going to strain the entire auxiliary?—"

Elias held up a hand. "No. I'm strapping you in and tucking a wallet into your good hand. You can tell me what to do when I get down there."

Fixer whined. The pitch of the Chaos 's engines rose accordingly.

"We need to get secure." Elias hefted Nessa out of Felix's lap. Her eyelids fluttered as he lifted her. "Hey. You still with us?"

"Hmm."

Should he scan her again? Was the lump on her head bigger? Elias laid her down on the bed and reached for the straps. "What's your name? How old are you?"

Irritation flashed through her eyes. "Nessa Jane O'Brien. Thirty-eight Standard." Her lips curved in a weak smile. "One hundred and twelve Caprice years."

Breathing out, Elias summoned a quick smile. "You're looking good for one hundred and twelve." He finished securing the straps and cupped her cheek. "Stay put. I'll be right back."

Nessa pressed her cheek into his palm. "I…"

"Shh." He didn't want to shush her. He wanted her to keep talking, proving she wasn't about to fade out on him again. "Gimme a sec to get Fix set." He brushed a kiss across her brow.

Fixer had managed to stand but not much more. Elias nudged him toward the other bed and helped strap him in, silently cursing the fact they'd never upgraded the beds to include automatic restraints. It had been Fix's choice to keep to the mechanical lockdowns. They wouldn't fail if the ship's systems did. Of course, Fix complained the entire time Elias worked to secure him.

"I love you, Fix. But next time you're injured, can we make it your voice box?"

"Fuck you."

Qek's voice came over the comm. " Executing maneuver in ten, nine …"

Crap. He didn't have time to get down to engineering before the turn. If Theo planned to continue flinging them through space, he might not get down there at all. "Shove over."

"Six, five…"

He climbed onto Fixer's bed, half over him, fastened the last strap and tucked his arms under Fixer's shoulders. "Just so you know, I'd rather be snuggled up next to Nessa."

Beneath him, Fix smiled. "I know." He didn't make a suggestive comment, he didn't tease. He simply acknowledged a fact they had never talked about.

Elias's heart slammed around in his chest as he tried to find the words…then remembered he was face-to-face with the wrong person. He loved Fixer, his friend, partner and little brother. But he was in love with Nessa, and if their world was about to be turned upside down, he wanted to be strapped down with her. To let her know he wanted something more than the casual relationship they'd enjoyed for the past two years.

He reached for the fastener?—

"One."

The Chaos banked sharply and shuddered. The g-forces of the maneuver pushed down across Elias's spine until he thought he might be crushed. Then the world flipped and he fell back against the single strap, hands pulling at Fixer's shoulders. Fix let out a growl of pain. Behind them, Nessa moaned. Unsecured instruments clanged from every surface. Something hit Elias in the lower back. His stomach lurched and the only reason he didn't puke into Fixer's face was the sure knowledge it would splash back into his mouth, starting an unholy cycle.

"I hope the resonance aren't poking holes in our cargo hold with their spikes," Fix ground out.

"Zed told them to strap in using the cargo restraints."

"Good plan."

The Chaos leveled off and Elias worked to pull his hands out from under Fix. He turned his head and yelled in the direction of the comm panel. "Is it safe to move about, or has Theo found an asteroid field to play with?"

"He had better not." Fix stuck his chin out again.

"The Magdalene is coming about. Ambassador Paredes estimates three minutes to the next maneuver."

"Qek, what are the stats on the aux couplings?" Fix asked.

"No serious fluctuations. Repeated maneuvers will overload the system in time, however."

Meaning they couldn't loop through space forever while the Magdalene dogged them.

Elias reached for the strap over his back. "Heading down to engineering."

Fix looked like he might protest. Then he relented, his mercurial temper evening out again. Or maybe he was just too tired. "Tuck a wallet in my hand before you go, and make sure Nessa can get at her hypos."

"I managed," Nessa said from across the room.

Elias thrust a wallet into Fixer's outstretched hand, blew a kiss to Ness and ducked through the hatch before he could give in to the urge to crawl onto her bed and hug her until Theo flew them into Tau Centauri.

"Grugguk isn't going to stand down," Theo said.

Zed stared straight ahead, trying not to acknowledge Theo's words—or what he didn't say. Wystan had told them a nightmarish tale of being boarded and three of the crew—three Church members—being killed that first day. Since then, the rest of them had been locked up in the galley. An impromptu brig on a ship that had never been designed to be a prison. Wystan had managed to hack the internal comms unit for short-range broadcast—but with Theo's latest maneuver, they'd moved out of range.

The fact that he'd already killed some of the cultists suggested Grugguk wasn't concerned about repercussions or keeping the rest of them alive. They were insurance, nothing more—a reason for the AEF to think twice about firing on the Magdalene . Why had he grabbed that ship and not another human vessel—opportunity? To make a statement? Fuck, all of the above?

"He's not going to let them live, is he?"

"My guess? No." Theo glanced at Zed. "They were dead the second he stepped on board."

Zed lifted a clenched fist to hit the wall, then slowly lowered it. A sore hand would be nothing but a distraction. "We can't just?—"

"We have no way to fight back, Zed, and the Chaos can't keep up with these maneuvers forever." Theo's lips narrowed into a thin line. His fingers continued to fly over the holo interface, making their trajectory difficult to predict and intercept. Zed didn't have to be an expert ship's engineer to realize they couldn't maintain this pace of dodge and evade. The Chaos just wasn't built for real-space flying like this.

"We could attempt to acquire aid from Ambassador Krenikk," Qek suggested.

They should be thinking of a way to save the Church of Omega, not condemn them. He rubbed his thumb against the crease between his brows. Exhaustion pulled at his limbs—he was quickly reaching a point where only the Zone would keep him coherent. His thoughts were stuck on a loop of no and wrong and there's got to be another way .

"Krenikk's as likely to ‘accidentally' shoot us down as the Magdalene ," Theo said.

"Shall we aim for the Jitendra , then?"

"Doubt the Chaos 'll make it."

"I would surmise the same." Qek clicked softly.

The Chaos dipped and Zed felt a groan ripple through the ship, almost as if she knew they were talking about her.

The stin couldn't be trusted, the AEF was too far away—but they had other allies currently stashed in the cargo bay. It was a long shot that they'd be able to offer any help, but Zed wouldn't know if he didn't ask them.

He sent a quick, simple message, overlaid with all of the emotional turmoil churning his gut. "Help. Please."

It took Gleams mere moments to process the images and concepts Zed provided. Her response made his muscles go weak with relief—they had a solution. Maybe. The thoughts and ideas flashed past too quickly for Zed to understand them thoroughly, but the sense of "we can fix this" echoed.

"I need to get down to the cargo bay. Gleams has an idea."

"What?" Theo's gaze flicked over to Zed for second. "Do we need to do anything?"

"Just keep us out of Grugguk's reach."

He raced out of the bridge and down the decks to Cargo One, praying that Theo didn't pull any more loop-de-loops before he got somewhere with a good set of handholds. Or straps. He didn't really want to depend on the resonance to keep him from smacking into the cargo bay wall—he'd seen what their spikes had done to Flick.

The resonance remained ensconced in the med-camp tent, strapped down with cargo ties as Zed had suggested. They'd also made judicial use of their spikes, hooking them through the tie holds where they could reach. Zed pushed aside the torn smart-fiber fabric and joined them.

"Again?" he prompted Gleams.

The images and concepts filtered through his mind a second time, more slowly than before, allowing Zed a complete understanding. Most beings had a limited tolerance for sound—certain frequencies could cause physiological damage, at least among humans. Zed couldn't point to any research that said the same about the stin, but trying to disable Grugguk via a concentrated emission from the resonance directed through the communications array of the Magdalene , focused through his Guardian cuff and making use of its expanded frequency capacity, was worth a try. It might also incapacitate the remaining cultists, but being knocked out was better than dying—and this way, maybe they'd buy enough time for the AEF to mount a rescue.

Gleams touched an appendage to Zed's shoulder. The other members of the unit took up similar positions, surrounding him. The physical touch of the resonance was not as familiar as the mental one, but it wasn't unpleasant—he always expected their crystalline "fingers" to feel cold, but they never did. Warmth flowed there, comforting, reassuring, paired with thoughts of the same flavor.

At first, he thought the vibration that started in his core was a reflection of the strain on the Chaos 's engines. He realized his mistake quickly as the vibrations increased and expanded out to his limbs. Closing his eyes, he opened the communications ability of the Guardians' cuff, mentally narrowing its range to his target. The Magdalene .

His bones resonated. His teeth. The small parts of his ears, his jaw. He might have yelled—he couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything but the vibration that wouldn't stop. His eyes felt like grapes about to be crushed from the pressure. Something gave way in his head, and a warm rush of liquid flowed over his lips.

The reverberation rose to a crescendo. He didn't have a chance to ask if it had worked before his eyes rolled back and the lights went out.

The c-core stuttered and died. Elias reached for the nearest rail, knowing what would happen next. Lights flickered up and down the length of the engineering bay as the auxiliary couplings tried and failed, one by one, to divert power. Then the ever-present hum beneath his feet fell silent, and the floor dropped away as the gravity generator followed the rest of the ship's systems into the abyss.

"Shit." Elias grappled for a handhold. In his mind, he heard Fixer mutter a follow-up double shit and triple shit . His wallet chimed. Elias fished it out of his pocket and thumbed open a comm interface. Fix's face overlaid the quiet c-core. He looked strained.

" Tell me we still have a c-core ."

"It's still there, but nothing is moving. No lights, no nothing."

Fix winced. "Is anything smoking?"

"Not that I can see? But it's pretty dark down here. Striplights are out."

" That's…not good. Okay… " Fixer seemed to drift, eyes becoming unfocused on the already wavering display.

"Fix?"

He breathed audibly. "Sorry. Whatever killed our ship fucking hurt."

"It's going to hurt a lot more if we don't get some power to life support."

" No…my arm ." His eyes squeezed shut and Elias could see his lips moving. He was counting. His eyes opened. " There's an off-line power source in life support. You need to get up there and connect that ."

"It doesn't switch over automatically?"

" No. If it was connected, it'd probably be fried right now ." Which would be why life support was always Fix's first stop when the c-core failed. Got it.

Elias's wallet chimed and a second display unfolded next to the first. Qek's smooth blue features brightened the dark space of engineering. " Captain? "

"I'm in engineering. Got Fix on wallet comms from the med bay. What's the status on the bridge?"

"Zander went to consult with the resonance in Cargo One. Four and a half Standard minutes later, a vibration passed through the hull of the Chaos . At a guess, it was a concussion wave."

Elias's stomach dropped, which was entirely unpleasant in zero-g. "Everyone okay up there?"

"The ambassador and I sustained minor burns from a power surge through the navigation controls. I cannot connect to any primary or secondary systems."

"Eli?" Fix's display wavered. "I'm closer to life support. Going to head there now. I'll check Cargo One as well."

"Can you walk?"

Nessa's face appeared next to Fix's. " He can lean on me ."

"Should you even be up?" How had she gotten out of the straps?

Theo's voice echoed through Qek's connection. "I'll come down to engineering and give you a hand, Elias. Felix, what sort of redundancies have you got?"

"Qek knows them all. She can talk you through rebooting the system."

" On it ." A shadow moved behind Qek as Theo withdrew.

"Let's leave this connection open until we've got power," Elias suggested.

"Or until the Magdalene catches up with us," Fix said.

Another display unfurled to show Theo. "They'd have knocked us out of space by now if they could. It's the other stin ships I'm more worried about."

" Other s tin ships? " If Fix lost any more color he'd disappear.

Elias felt just as pale. "Plural?"

"Oh, no one told you about that part?"

"Triple fucking shit. You know, it might have been kinder if whatever hit us had vaporized the hull."

Several voices uttered various forms of Fixer's name.

Elias overrode the clamor. "All right, everyone, let's get to work."

He wasn't happy. Not happy at all. The resonance were up to who knew what, and the Chaos was adrift in a sea of stars with an insane warlord and an unspecified number of stin ships. Nessa should be strapped down and resting her head. Fix should be bloody unconscious. Qek had burned hands and Zed was MIA somewhere between the bridge and Cargo One. He had better be alive, and not just for Fix's sake. Elias might—on occasion—regret taking those credits, but now Zed was crew.

Sometimes being captain sucked.

Felix drew in a deep breath and asked for something he didn't really want. "I need something for the pain, Ness. My arm. It fucking burns. Feels like whatever hit the ship crashed into my side."

It had actually felt as if his arm had shattered into a million pieces. Now a sharp pain radiated down from his shoulder, and every breath sent a pulse of fire up his neck and around the back of his skull.

In the dim light cast by two open wallets, Nessa regarded him solemnly for a moment, then reached for the hypo attached to her belt, her movements careful and deliberate. She had enough problems without sending herself careening backward through the med bay. "You're not going to lie back down unless I knock you out, are you?"

"I just got my straps undone." He'd managed to get his right hand out and across to the mechanism. "And we need everyone on deck right now."

And he had to get to Cargo One. If he was going to collapse, he wanted it to be next to Zed. He didn't want to think about Zed being…Fuck. The fact Zed hadn't joined the comm channel meant only one thing. It would take every last ounce of willpower Felix had to visit life support first—and he didn't have a lot of power left, of any kind.

The pain did not immediately abate under the hiss of the hypo. Grunting, Felix gestured toward the door. He floated backward a few centimeters.

"Want me to lead?" Nessa asked.

Felix wasn't in the mood to argue. "How's the head?"

"I should be following my own advice."

"Nah, if you did that, you'd be insufferable."

The lack of gravity eased their passage. The threat of the unknown caused Felix to falter now and again, his one good hand gripping a rail or the edge of a bulkhead as he fought panic. Was the Magdalene coming about? What had happened to the cultists? Thoughts of a stin armada providing backup had his breath stuttering in his throat.

"Still hurting?" Nessa asked on one such stop.

Felix inclined his head in a short nod. He pushed off the wall and continued down the corridor. Debris swirled around them as they pulled their way through the galley and mess. By the time they reached the other side, the air began to taste stale. Felix grabbed the edge of the table and propelled himself toward the open hatch. His left shoulder collided with the frame and a blinding wash of pain dulled his senses—and reality—for a moment.

Then the fingers of his left hand twitched. It could have been a reaction to the pain, but he didn't think so. He'd been thinking about pushing away from the wall. But when he tried again, his hand refused to respond.

He huffed out a sigh.

"You okay?"

It wasn't hard to swallow the urge to snap at Nessa. He was too damned tired and sore. "'M fine." Just dandy.

Their situation had an upside. Many of the hatches were open and none were locked, thank all those useless gods. That meant a stable atmosphere prevailed throughout the ship. And the fingers of his left hand had just moved again. Maybe.

" I'm in engineering ," Theo reported.

"Air's getting a little close down here," Elias chimed in.

"We're working on it." They had arrived outside life support. Felix triggered the manual hatch release and Nessa worked to tug the sliding door back into its frame. Peering into the black interior was like staring into the void. No light, no hum. Nothing. "Can you shine the light of your wallet inside?"

He could hear Qek, Theo and Elias conversing over the open channel. Qek had directed Theo to the small external power source that would light up the c-core control panel while they ran a diagnostic. He connected a similar device to life support and counted. At fifteen, the display flickered to life and began a self-check.

"How's it look?" Nessa asked.

Felix selected a tool from the small kit housed in a compartment along the wall. "There's a short. Won't take me long to fix it."

He needed two hands to pry open the panel beneath the display. Tucking the tool between his teeth, Felix lifted his left arm with his right. Pain flared across his shoulders. Clumsily, he positioned the fingers around the edge of the panel, thinking he could use the hand as a lever if nothing else. He thought at his arm, commanding the new fingers to grip , and gasped as they actually responded. Using both hands, he pulled the panel away. He beckoned Nessa closer. "Shine the light in here?"

He quickly located the burned-out component and replaced it. The work was awkward, but he managed to nudge things with his left hand, every small movement enough of a success that hope began to filter in beneath his fatigue. He could do this. They'd survive this. Zed would be all right. Surely the galaxy wouldn't roll over now, when he had two functioning hands.

Green lights pulsed across the display, one by one. Moments later, fresh air puffed through the vents.

"Life support is online," he reported.

"Thank God," Elias said. "Theo is reseating an auxiliary coupling."

"If he starts with set three?—"

"I directed him to that one first, Fixer," Qek broke in.

Allowing a tired smile, Felix turned back to Nessa. "If I didn't feel like I were being sawn in half right now, I'd be cautiously optimistic about our future."

"You're never cautiously anything." Nessa's grin was more a grimace. "Cargo One?"

Swallowing, Felix gestured for her to lead the way. Halfway to Cargo One, gravity was restored. Before he collided with a wall, he managed to grip a railing with his left hand. Smiling, he flexed the fingers a few times to make sure the action was all his. It was.

He had control over his new arm. His beautiful, shiny new arm.

The striplights flickered on next, showing Nessa in a heap on the floor, rubbing at the other side of her head. "Thanks for the warning, guys."

"Sorry!"

"I have repaired navigation control," Qek reported. "The stin ships are hailing us."

"What about the Magdalene ?"

"It is not appearing on sensors. I am picking up a number of smaller signatures that could be debris, however."

Debris? Who had destroyed the Magdalene ?

"Maybe the stin took matters into their own hands," Elias said.

"Would be a sad day for them if we didn't survive their help." Felix swallowed again, as his stomach continued to rebel against the return of gravity.

"Should I answer their hail?" Qek asked.

Elias spoke up. " Direct it to my wallet if you can. Theo? Want to stand by in case I forget how to be diplomatic?"

A snort indicated Theo's assent.

Felix pushed on toward Cargo One. The pain down his side increased with every step he took. By the time he reached the hatch, his legs shook and simply breathing required intense concentration. Nessa palmed the panel and the door slid open. The med-camp hung from the walls in tattered ruins. Strips of thin plastic and SFT fabric wavered near the now-operating vents. The striplights flickered under the motion. But Felix's attention was caught by the huddle of resonance in the center of the bay. Their lower appendages were folded so that they appeared to be sitting, and he could see Zed's limp form cradled between two of them.

He lurched forward and halted suddenly as the pain in his head swelled into a crescendo. Black spots drifted across his eyes, ever expanding until he could see nothing. Then he saw his own face, rendered small and pinched, the scar down the left side a deep and dividing line, and the riotous curls of his hair an exaggerated shade of yellow. A keening sensation accompanied the mental picture, as if he were mourning his own passing. Then a series of emotions and images battered him. Sorrow, remorse, concern, a thrum of life despite the stillness…efforts to rouse, a pulse beating shallowly against a neck that seemed far too thin and insubstantial. Zed's face, blood streaked across his upper lip. The feeling of being torn apart. Prayers and moans and a vibration that emanated from the core of him, building and building until he thought he would fly apart. Pain. Holy mother of the universe, the pain.

Felix clutched his head and screamed.

Yellow.

Sorry.

Yellow.

Sorry.

Yellow.

The two thoughts repeated over and over, the volume slowly diminishing until the ideas were like whispers. The pressure against his brain decreased and his arm stopped throbbing. The ache up and down the left side of his body eased. He still hurt, and fatigue might collapse his legs at any moment, but he no longer existed in a world of crushing agony.

"Fix?"

Nessa stood in front of him, medical wallet in her hand. Two red splotches stood out on her pale, freckled cheeks. Her hair tangled across her forehead, damp strands parting to reveal the lump. Felix looked past her at the resonance, and the realization of what had happened, what was happening, turned his stomach. They were talking to him.

In. His. Head.

"Holy shit."

"What? Is it your arm? Fixer?"

He focused on Nessa. "I think they're talking to me." He lowered his arms, the fact his left moved on command still wondrous despite the fact he could now hear voices too.

"Who?" No sooner had the question left her lips than her eyes widened.

"Need to check on Zed." Regardless of whether the resonance tried to make his head explode again, Felix needed to make sure Zed was okay. Though, oddly, he had a feeling Zed was just fine. Not the sort of fine that would please Nessa—or him, for that matter. But the energy coming from the resonance didn't feel frantic.

Fuck, this was weird.

Shaking himself loose, Felix stepped forward, following Nessa toward the huddle. She dropped to her knees with a grunt and began scanning. Blood oozed from Zed's nostrils, and the moment he saw it, Felix flashed back to the image and accompanying sensation of whatever Zed and the resonance had done. The vibration, something tearing loose and trying to take Zed with it. As he knelt down, the pressure wrapped around his head again. Abstract concepts tumbled through his brain, and now that he was prepared for them, Felix recognized most of the thoughts as being plucked from his own consciousness. Zed's face, over and over. The deep well of his love for Zed. Their bond.

Thoughts rolled back and forth, bouncing and colliding until they coalesced into words.

"Fluffy-yellow-partner-unit."

Felix tore his gaze away from Zed to meet the oddly direct gaze of Locks. "You're talking to me," he said.

They really called him fluffy-yellow-partner-unit?

Locks performed one of the human gestures Zed had taught them: a nod.

"I don't know how to talk back. I don't even know how you're doing this."

Locks touched his arm, his new arm, and warmth spread through the limb, curling around his shoulder and down his back. Lingering pain disappeared, replaced with a sensation of floating.

"Thank you," Felix said, sure the gesture had been meant to do exactly what it had done. Using his left hand, the movement now less jerky, more natural, he indicated Zed, and his heart paused mid-beat. "Is he…?"

He reached down to grip Zed's warm hand. He could feel it. He could feel Zed's skin, and it was warm.

"He's fine," Nessa answered for him.

A not-quite-gentle brush over Felix's thoughts confirmed her pronouncement.

Elias's voice burst from the comm panel. "Stin say we destroyed the Magdalene . The ambassador sounds kinda pissed and impressed at the same time."

They had destroyed the Magdalene ? Were there no survivors? Felix looked at Locks and thought what did we do ?

The alien answered with a single concept that vibrated against Felix's brain stem: resonance. Understanding clicked into place as more images and thoughts came in a barrage. A wave of energy spliced together and focused through a single being, amplified by a circle, a ring, a…the Guardian cuff, and blasted into the comms system of the ship behind him.

"Oh my God."

"What?" Nessa looked up.

"When he wakes up, I'm going to…" The sudden burst of anger died a quick death. He was just too damned tired. "Zed let them use him as a conduit. They sent a signal to the Magdalene . It was supposed to knock out the pilot and anyone else on board. But they overestimated the power of the surge. It blew the other ship apart, nearly taking us with it."

A low whistle sounded through the comms. "I think we should keep this information to ourselves for the time being," Theo said.

The implications of what had happened teased Felix's mind. The power harnessed by the resonance, the fate of the stin probe and now the Magdalene . The resonance appeared peaceful, but they were obviously more than capable of defending themselves.

The worst of it, though, was the fact that while the Chaos had survived, the cultists hadn't. Felix almost wished Zed didn't have to awaken to that knowledge. He didn't need any more burdens to carry.

Felix looked down to find a beloved steel-blue gaze focused on him. His heart beat faster and tears pricked his eyes. He had to suck in a breath and hold it to quiet the urge to sob. Shifting his hand, Felix tangled their fingers together. Shiny crystal around warm flesh. "You try and quit on me one more time and I'm going to…" His well of insults had run dry. "Just stop trying to die, okay?"

Zed managed a weak smile that did disgusting things to the blood caking his lips. "Love you too."