Chapter Four

"Zadie, wake up! I need you to wake up. Right now!"The voice in my head wouldn't shut up.

"Go away,"I moaned.

"Open your eyes and tell me what you see?"

Ugh. It was Jedrick. "Leave me alone. Wanna sleep."

"Do you want to go back to Gliese?"

My eyes popped open. "No."

"Are you still on Earth or are you on a ship?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"We are aware two Bjarke mercenaries took you, but we have not been able to track them."

Huh? I thought Coletti warriors could track down anyone, anywhere. The smartest thing for me to do was tell Jedrick what he wanted to know. He might send me to a penal colony, but anything was better than going back to Gliese. "One of the Bjarke warriors said his name was Loki and the room I'm in smells like stinky feet. Does that help?"

"Yes. Are they in the room with you?" Jedrick queried.

"Nope, by myself."I scanned the area. "The Bjarke are on the bridge, and they are yelling about something."

"Can you hear what they are saying?"

"They're speaking a language I don't know."

"Are you restrained?"

"Yep, but getting out of shackles is easy-peasy."

"Good to know. What else did your parents teach you?"There was an irritated note in Jedrick's voice.

"Lots of stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I can't tell you, it's a secret."I shot one little energy bolt into the lock, and it popped open. "I'm free."

"Do you see a commlink?"

The only things in the tiny room were two bunk beds, a storage unit and trash. Lots and lots of trash. "No."

"Is the door locked?"

Jumping off the narrow bunk, I walked through the ankle-deep trash to the door and placed my hand on the sensor pad.

It flashed red, and the computer spat gibberish.

"The door is locked."

"Deactivate it,"Jedrick ordered.

I zapped the sensor pad. The door slid open, then shut. Open. Shut. Open. Shut. After a quick scan of the area, I darted through the doorway.

"Do not forget to scan the area for Loki and Ivan."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, sir. The Bjarke warriors are still on the bridge, and I think they're fighting now."

"Find the transporter room. The control console will have a commlink and their current navigational coordinates," Jedrick commanded.

I bolted down the narrow hallway. If this ship was anything like Uncle Ax's the transporter room was behind that door. I zapped the sensor pad and sighed in relief. I knew how to use a transporter. "Found it."

Boom!

I staggered off-balance when the ship bucked wildly. "We're under attack!"

"Get to the scanner. We need to see who is attacking you," Jedrick instructed.

I scrambled over to the console and frowned. The control panel was nothing like the one on Uncle Ax's ship.

"What's wrong?"

"The control console is all wonky," I answered.

With a strong mental push. Jedrick demanded, "Link with me."

"But…"

"Do you want to die?"

Boom! Boom! Kaboom! The floor pitched radically, throwing me off my feet. An alarm began to wail, and some alien gibberish sounded from the speakers.

"No."I wanted to live. "Will it hurt?"

"Some but you are a strong child."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Okay, I'm lowering them now." The second I dropped my mental shields; Jedrick was in my head. It was weird and kinda icky. Suddenly images and data flowed into my mind. Whoa! Just like that I knew how to work everything.My fingers flew across the keyboard. I brought up the forward viewscreen and sent our coordinates to Jedrick's commlink.

"That is a Nal Rishi pirate ship. They usually travel in packs. Bring up the long-range scanners," Jedrick said.

I tapped an icon and frowned. An Askole battle cruiser was in pursuit of another Nal Rishi pirate ship, and they were heading right for us.

Jedrick commanded, "Put them up on the viewscreen."

"Yes, sir."The blackness of space was filled with ribbons of dazzling red energy beams as the Nal Rishi pirates and the Askole battled it out. It was like the American's Fourth of July.

"I'm contacting the Askole ship for assistance. There should be a weapons locker near the control console."

"I see it."

"Arm yourself."

"Yes, sir." I hurried over to the weapons locker, zapped the lock, and grabbed a laser pistol. "I'm armed."

The ship shuddered violently. The walls creaked and groaned ominously. A computerized voice announced, "Warning. Warning. Shields are down. Hull breach imminent. Warning. Warning. Shields are down. Hull breach imminent."

Cold fear knotted my gut. I was going to die.

"No, you are not going to die,"Jedrick growled in my head. "Enter these coordinates into the transporter controls. 451.1 mark 421.2."

I did as he instructed and frowned. "Isn't the Askole battle cruiser too far away?"

"Yes, it is, but those coordinates are to the Nal Rishi spacecraft," Jedrick replied.

"What? That's crazy!"

Jedrick laughed. "While the Nal Rishi pirates are boarding this ship, you will transport yourself to the bridge of their ship. I want you to shoot the pilot, take control of the spacecraft, and leave the pirates behind."

"It's a good plan, but I don't know how to fly a spaceship."

"I will help you."

"Okay." I entered the coordinates into the control console, gave myself a ten-second delay and scrambled up on the platform. A glittering blue light engulfed me, the transporter room vanished and when the lights faded away, I was on the Nal Rishi ship's bridge.

A warrior with a bubble gum pink goatee and troll hair gawked at me.

I waved all friendly like.

"He's going for his weapon. Take him out,"Jedrick shouted.

Someone was a cranky butt. I shot the pilot.

The pirate's teeth chattered like shellfish and violent muscle spasms had him literally vibrating in his spacesuit.

"Your father did an excellent job teaching you how to shoot."

"Nah, my mother taught me," I corrected him. "My father was great with a sword, but a piss-poor shot." I undid the battle harness and dragged the spasming pilot away from the control console.

One of his arms slammed into my face, knocking me on my butt. Ouch!

"Stun him again."

"Okay." I shot the pirate two more times.His weird milky green eyes glared at me.

"What else did your mother teach you?"

"How to be a pickpocket." I plopped down in the pilot's chair. "Now what?"

"Enter 651.1 mark 321.2 into the navigation console."

"Okey-dokey." I entered the coordinates. "All done. What's next?"

A weird tickling sensation filled my head and presto! I knew how to fly the pirates' ship. "This is awesome." I engaged the engines and watched the Bjarke's ship fade from view. I wondered how fast this ship could go. I reached for the lever.

"No! You need to stay at warp one. Once Trayon destroys the Nal Rishi's ship, he will rendezvous with you."

Now that I knew how to fly a spaceship, I could take it and look for Uncle Ax.

"Absolutely not! Once I sever our link, that knowledge will be gone,"Jedrick snapped. "And besides that, you are only twelve years old, and you are going to get yourself killed or captured. You need my protection."

The jerk was reading my mind. "I can take care of myself."

"You are a very capable child, but you have a unique psychic ability that everyone wants. You are safer with me."

"Am not." Brilliant billows of orange and yellow flames erupted from the disintegrating Nal Rishi ship. I crossed my arms and glared at the viewscreen. "You're gonna put me in a penal colony. I won't be safe there."

"Penal colony? That will not happen, Imp." Jedrick stated. "My brother Wulf will be your guardian."

"My guardian? You're not taking me back to my grandmother?"

"No, that is not an option. The Dragos clan would teach you how to be a thief."

"I'm already a master thief." I watched the approaching Askole battle cruiser get closer and closer.

Jedrick sighed. "How is that even possible?"

"I came into my power when I was three. After that I went on all my parents' jobs."

"Why am I not surprised. Come to a full stop," Jedrick ordered.

I tapped the control console. "Full stop."

"Drop the shields."

I punched an icon. "Shields down."

Fire ants tromped across my mind. I hit the floor and seconds later a laser bolt took out the control console. Burning blue sparks spewed in every direction as systems blew. "Are you nuts?"

The Nal Rishi pilot yelled a bunch of gobbledygook and fired again. The second bolt destroyed the viewscreen and put a hole in the hull. The shriek of escaping air drowned out the pilot's shouts.

I rolled and fired.

The pilot did a funny clown dance as his muscles spasmed horribly.

"You forgot to search him."

I winced. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

A glittering blue light engulfed me. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the ship's hull rupturing and the pilot being sucked out into space. I closed my eyes and screamed.

"You are safe, small one,"a gravelly voice stated calmly.

I stopped screaming. Huh? I wasn't dead. I opened one eye. An enormous Askole warrior was standing at the transporter control console. My other eye popped open and I gaped at the mass of squirming snake-like tentacles covering his head. He smiled, exposing a mouthful of serrated teeth, and I burst into tears. I was gonna die. I was gonna die. I didn't know who to trust or what to do. A shudder shook me. All I wanted was my mother. I needed to feel her arms around me again. I missed her singing and her kisses. I wanted to hear her laughter one more time, but she was gone; and I never got to say goodbye. I cried harder.

Jedrick gave me a mental hug. "Sssh. You are safe. No one is going to hurt you. Go to sleep now and when you wake up everything will be alright."

My eyes began to droop. I was awfully tired.

"Sleep."

I closed my eyes.

"Sleep, Imp."