Chapter 39

THIRTY-NINE

With a full stomach, Jade took a leisurely walk with Noa down a series of confusingly winding corridors until they reached yet another room.

The dining room had been an unexpected and pleasant surprise. In the middle of this vast alien space station, she'd been welcomed into a cozy, well-furnished space, with almost everything sourced from Earth.

Special lights had simulated warm daylight.

This is how we get our vitamin D, Noa had informed her.

There was a small indoor garden, complete with bamboo and moss, and a small fountain from which water trickled soothingly over polished river stones.

A kitchen-bot was installed—a super expensive state-of-the-art one that could prepare anything she desired.

She'd opted for something simple. Comfort food. Deep fried chicken with tangy barbeque sauce and coleslaw and chips drenched in gravy. Not the healthiest, but it had satisfied all her cravings.

Besides, she'd earned it. Her body was running on empty right now. Caught up in Dragek's magnetic pull, she'd forgotten all about her basic needs.

As she thought of him again, her heart thudded wildly. Heat surged through her. She had to stop this. Every time she conjured him in her mind, she went a little mad with need.

This is… ridiculous.

He was a Kordolian.

They'd only just met.

So much had happened to her in the span of less than 48 hours. All of it was completely and utterly impossible.

And now, this woman called Noa wanted to take her to some random chamber to test out some ancient technology that might make it possible for her to mentally communicate with Dragek across an unfathomable distance.

Really, now.

This was the stuff of dreams. But she'd walked through her own dreams enough times to know that they could quickly turn into nightmares.

"Here we are." Noa stopped in front of a nondescript doorway. It was the same as all the others Jade had seen: black, seamless, made of what appeared to be thousands of interwoven fibers.

Immediately, the fibers began to unravel, taking Jade's breath away.

She wasn't ever going to get used to that sight.

Why couldn't Kordolians just have normal doors like everyone else?

"How do you know where to go?" Jade asked. "Everything looks the same. I'd get lost in about thirty seconds."

"Fair question. Humans don't have free run of the Fleet Station. Not because they're trying to hide anything from us but because some areas are genuinely dangerous. The places I prefer to stick to are rather limited. Safe. Familiar. There's the dining and living area, our quarters, the pool and recreation area, and where we are right now—the library. Ash or one of the First Division guys usually accompany me if I need to go anywhere else."

"For a big alien military station, it's surprisingly homely."

Noa laughed softly. "I'm glad you think so. They've made a lot of modifications to make the place livable for us. It's still a work in progress, though. We add new bits and pieces all the time as we think of them. As for your question, see these blue lights here?"

Jade stared at the small constellation of blue lights set into the wall. They were arranged in a pattern, reminding Jade a little of braille, of all things. "I was wondering about those. Kordolians can see in almost total darkness, can't they? That's what I've heard, anyway. So I'd imagine they aren't for helping them to see."

"You're right, and it's true. They've evolved to live in the cold and darkness. That's what the environment on their planet is like. These lights here are used to convey information. They can even project holos or record movement. This particular arrangement tells me that these doors lead to the library. Fortunately for us, they actually provide some form of illumination around the ship. It might not be the brightest, but it's enough to see by. There are all kinds of devices we can use to help light the way, but I generally feel okay with this amount of light. I'm told Tarak ordered them to turn up the brightness a lot in our areas. Kordolians don't like a great amount of light. They tolerate it, but their natural element is darkness."

"Makes sense." Jade rolled her eyes as she thought about Dragek and how easily he'd stalked through the underground mines. Kordolians were so obviously suited to cold and darkness. They were like deities or mythical creatures from another world—beautiful, dangerous, aloof until one got to know them.

She followed Noa through a small entrance room that opened up into a vast space. Like the cozy dining and lounge area they'd just left, this room was illuminated with the warm glow of proper lighting.

So, this was a human-friendly space.

Jade's eyes were immediately drawn to a floor-to-ceiling window that allowed a stunning view of the stars. It was a treat for her senses, a surreal overload that almost stole away her remaining capacity for logic.

She could drown in that sight, staring at it for hours.

But she had enough of her wits about her to notice the deep-winged armchairs in the corners and the shelves along the dark walls, stacked with what looked like a combination of human and alien texts. She even recognized some of the titles from Earth.

Other books, however, were completely alien. Made from unfamiliar materials, the spines were embossed with indecipherable alien glyphs.

"I didn't know Kordolians had books," she whispered in awe.

"They don't, really. They probably switched to digital long before we started putting pen to paper. These are either replicas, or they're very, very old."

"Oh." Jade didn't know why, but unease rippled through her. "That's why we're here, isn't it? This is all linked to something ancient. You mentioned something about an artifact."

"You catch on quickly."

"I'm a details-oriented person. My former profession demanded it."

"You were a lawyer, right?"

"Why am I not surprised that you know everything about me already?" Jade rolled her eyes in an unserious way. At least this small talk helped relieve some of the tension inside her. Being able to feel the tendril of Dragek's presence without knowing what he was up to was a subtle kind of torture.

"Sorry." Noa spread her hands wide in an apologetic gesture. "You're new here, and they're Kordolians. They can access pretty much any database on Earth."

"We humans didn't ever stand a chance, did we?"

"Not really."

"All right." Jade let out a puff of exasperation and steeled herself. She could easily feel upset and violated right now, like her world had been upended and control snatched out of her hands. But when had she ever been truly in control? At least now, she could do something about it. Noa and the Kordolians were giving her that option. "Where's this artifact, then? And what am I expected to do?"

"Have a seat." Noa gestured toward one of the winged armchairs. "Please make yourself comfortable. I don't want you to feel any sense of pressure. It's just a theory we're going to test out. If it works, great. If it doesn't, that's okay, too. Elgon and I will make sure nothing dangerous happens."

"Okay, you're going to have to explain it to me like I'm five." Jade sat down, grateful for the comfort of soft velvet cushioning. She could understand why Noa and the other humans had insisted on them. These small creature comforts made the place feel less alien and closer to Earth.

They were a little dose of sanity.

Noa walked across and took a seat in the armchair opposite. "When you first encountered Dragek, something big happened. Neither of you would have been aware of it at the time, but that meeting triggered a reaction in your bodies. Not a normal attraction. Something far greater than that, potentiated by the fact that your raw, unrecognized Talent came into contact with his. That's why you were both magnetically drawn to one another. Why you so easily stepped out of your comfort zone and went along with him. Why things escalated so… fast. It's in our genes, apparently. There's something that makes some of us highly, highly compatible with certain Kordolians. The fact that you're his match both genetically and psychically makes you even rarer. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why your Talent started kicking off in the first place. Not necessarily because of your injury."

"Okay." Jade made a slow-down gesture with her hands. "I get it. I'm going to need a month or so to process all of this, but I understand what you're saying. The impossibility of it all. My life's never going to be the same again, and all of that." And I just want to see him again.

"Given that the two of you are still in that rare state of heightened senses and physical enhancement, we thought it might be a good opportunity to test one of Elgon's theories and teach you more about your abilities along the way because the Mating Fever won't last forever. Tarak also thought it would be useful if you could speak to Dragek. We don't know what he's going to encounter. He's a disciplined and incredibly skilled fighter, but he's fairly new to this kind of thing, and all of them go to a dark place from time to time. We figured he'd probably benefit from having an anchor."

"And you think that anchor is me? "

"Nothing else can affect him as powerfully as you."

"Seriously?"

"I'm serious. But of course, you can decline if you don't feel comfortable."

Jade let out an ironic laugh. "If you know so much about me already, then you know I'm not going to do that."

"I know." Noa leaned forward, her expression turning serious. "You're smart, Jade. You know how improbable this is, how huge this is. What we're asking you to do might sound like a shot in the dark, but I believe it's very important that you try. Besides… it was Tarak himself who specifically requested that we try this."

Jade frowned. Why would the infamous General Tarak al Akkadian take such an interest in her?

She couldn't help but feel like a pawn in a much bigger game, a tiny cog in a machine. Was that what they'd planned all along when they'd first discovered what she was capable of?

Her mouth went dry. Her unease deepened.

They'd treated her well, no doubt about it, but everything had happened too easily, too conveniently.

As if they were setting her up.

How were they any different from the humans that had tried to detain her on Earth?

Jade tried to keep her fear and mistrust from spilling over.

Keep it together. This is real. This is happening.

But she didn't know what was real anymore.

Noa was still staring at her intently, radiating a calm, gentle energy. Her aura was so serene, so centered. Jade almost envied her.

If only she could become like that.

"I can feel what you're feeling," Noa said quietly. "It's understandable. I can't deny that Tarak does things because he sees a certain logic in them. All I can say is that he's a very ethical and considerate chess master. Everything he does is calculated for the benefit of our survival. Despite what you might have heard about him, he's a good man. And he and Ash are very much on our side. Sounds preposterous, doesn't it? There's no point in me trying to convince you. Why don't I just show you?"

"How?" Jade felt a ripple at the edge of her consciousness. She pulled her thoughts inward, ignoring the murmur of hundreds of thoughts in the background.

"The beauty of our gift is that we can share the unspoken and see the truth with absolute certainty. Years of distrust and misunderstanding can be bypassed in an instant. Let me show you what I mean. I'm going to share my innermost thoughts and memories with you. I was all over the place when I first started, but I have to admit, I've gotten quite good at this."

"What do I have to do?"

"Nothing. Just stay as you are. I'll reach out to you. And don't worry, I won't delve into your mind at all. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just say so."

"Uh, okay." When Noa was so earnest like this, how could she refuse? Jade's curiosity and desire to understand her newfound ability overrode her fear.

She sat back and looked out across the stars. The Universe was silent and infinite and dangerously mesmerizing.

If she stared at it long enough, she'd probably go into a trance.

"Please just relax, Jade. You're amongst friends here. Nobody wants to hurt you, and I can assure you that if anybody tried, Dragek would take their head off."

"I can actually see that."

"So, relax."

"Fine." Jade closed her eyes and tried as best as she could. She tried to contain her thoughts in a vessel of willpower. It worked—somewhat. She wasn't as scattered as before.

Jade was composed enough to feel Noa's featherlike touch as she brushed against her consciousness.

She felt Noa's psychic presence. It was as calm and composed as Noa herself, reminding her of a cool, glassy lake on a hot, windless day.

Then, like glass shattering into a million pieces, Noa's barriers crumbled. Jade was plunged into a stream of memories and emotions.

It wasn't a torrent. She wasn't drowning. She saw Noa's memories with perfect clarity. Noa's emotions surrounded her but didn't engulf her—it was as if she were in a museum, with the contents of Noa's mind on full display.

She was floored by how freely this woman—who, until just recently, had been a stranger to her — shared herself.

She saw a union. A merging of worlds. Human and Kordolian. Near-impossible odds: one in a billion.

She saw the one they called Tarak. He was as hard and steadfast as Callidum.

But sometimes, he was soft, and sometimes, he yielded…

She saw Noa's bond with her mate and immediately sensed how deep it went, how fateful it was.

It was the very same thing that was happening to her and Dragek.

It wasn't something she could or should fight.

It was inevitable.

She saw a dark planet shaken to its core by the mere presence of a human.

How was this even possible?

These men, these aliens … their hands were soaked in the blood of their enemies; they carried all the darkness and ruthlessness of a dying empire, and yet, they'd somehow transformed it into something else.

They wanted to protect them— humans.

Because they saw a future together.

Dragek was like this, too. She knew it in every fiber of her being.

Jade gasped. Her entire body trembled with the profoundness of knowing. She was falling, and yet, at the same time, she was caught by Noa's gentle aura.

Contained.

Cocooned.

Safe.

Because Noa had walked this path before her, and she was willing to reach down and pull Jade up.

Not everyone was like that.

How lucky she was.

"Take a moment," Noa said softly. "I know it's a lot, but now you know."

"I don't need a moment." The stars swam in Jade's vision, each one shimmering with a tiny halo. She could feel the Universe swirling around her: threads and particles slowly spinning and drifting like grains of sand in a slow-moving ocean current.

It was too much for her human mind to comprehend.

Too vast.

Too terrifying.

How insignificant she was.

A speck woven into the tapestry of infinity.

If she dwelled on it too much, she would surely go insane, but Noa's presence beside her kept her from shattering.

And she clung to the one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.

This male, who had let her into his secret heart, a place he'd kept pure against all odds… She wanted to go after him.

To move forward, even if not everything made perfect sense.

Never backward. What was the point of that?

"Let's do it." The steel in her own voice surprised her. "Bring me the damn thing. I'll give it a shot."

Noa smiled. "I was hoping you would say that. Sometimes, you just have to trust your gut and go for it. With these sorts of things, you never know what might happen. I'll call Elgon right away."