I wanted to tinker with her to see what made her work. Turns out it was a good thing I did ’cause I used her to save the life of that sentient ship Chancellor D’zia let us use.
Azazel looked out of his clear crystal cage to the empty room where the android had been.That sexbot houses the consciousness ofElemithe ship?How outstanding would that be?
Yup. Even better, the Krystalii can’t see her since she doesn’t give off any psychic vibes. Much like the JR units,Arakiba confirmed.I’m on the ship,Elemi,not too far from the Krystalii one you’re on. WithElemi’sability to absorb the signatures of any ship, organic or not, we remain cloaked from them.
If Azazel understood him correctly, the shipElemicame across theNyrlith’ssensors as part of itself. Finally, some good news. A way for him to escape somewhere safe with Toni. Of course, he’d have to break free from this cage, find her, then either teleport that short distance or steal one of their ships and leave. All without the Krystalii knowing. It’d be great if he had a suit like Toni’s that camouflaged his psychic presence. Well, all he could do was deal with one thing at a time.
Can you get us out of here without the Krystalii knowing?
Uh, no can do, bro.
Arakiba’s unhelpful answer made Azazel frown.
At least not yet. That’s why Elemi is there.
Go on.
See, between the three of us—me, Asmodel, and Abalim—we’ve come across former Krystalii loyalists who’ve informed us theNyrlithhas something called the Nexus Core. It’s some kind of device deep in the bowels of that ship, that Baelon psychically uses to control his subjects. Once Elemi disrupts that, me and the bros will come on board and get ya. Easy-peasy, right?
But why did she take Toni with her?The thought of her traveling throughout the hostile Krystalii ship made the acid in his throat burn.
Toni? Oh, is that the babe you were supposed to find? Ouch! That hurt.
What happened? Why did you say ouch?
Morgan pinched my arm ’cause I called Toni a babe. No need to be so cruel,irnini.
Morgan? That must have been the woman Arakiba was looking for. But him calling her a “sweet smelling lady” in their ancient language was something different. Azazel had never heard his fun-loving brother have such affection in his tone whenever he spoke to someone. Especially a woman.
Can Morgan hear us?
No. She made me speak out loud as we talked so she could hear my part of the conversation. Hey, dude. You are not going to believe where she’s from!
Azazel smiled at the excitement in his brother’s tone. He sounded like a kid who couldn’t wait to share a great secret. Before he commented, Arakiba continued.
You’re right, my love. I’ll tell him later. Anyhoo, Az. Just sit tight, and as soon as Elemi knocks out that psychic doohickey, we’ll be right there to get ya. Later!
Azazel jerked at the notable click announcing the end of their conversation.Ezeru! Curse his brother for cutting things off like that! He had too many questions that demanded answers. Trust Arakiba to leave him high and dry, sitting here with no way to find out anything. Much less protect Toni. Thatson-of-a-lilit brother of his had no idea what was going to happen to him when Azazel got his hands around his clueless, smart-ass neck.
His inner beast growled in agreement.
Toni followed the neon-pink Elemi through the gleaming crystalline corridors of the Krystalii ship. The smooth, reflective walls refracted light in an eerie dance of color that gave her a headache.
The faint hum of the ship’s systems thrummed around them, punctuated only by JR14’s soft, mechanical buzzing as he hovered next to her.
“Darling,” Elemi purred, each syllable dripping with diva-level confidence. “Confession time. I know it’s strange for me to admit, but playing the heroine is unusual for me. Which I certainly hope you can appreciate. Instead of traipsing around this drafty ship, I should be finding glory, exploring the stars! But alas, I am a prisoner of my own making. I could not allow such an exquisite challenge to unfold without my input, now, could I?” She turned her synthetic head and tossed a theatrical wink at Toni. “I think not. You should feel honored.”
“Honored, right,” Toni muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. At first, she worried about them speaking out loud around the ship, in case the Krystalii heard them. But Elemi insisted the crystal creatures wouldn’t be able to pick up anything she said since she wasn’t organic. The pink bot insisted Toni keep her tone low if she had anything relevant to say at all.
Toni glanced at JR14, who hovered close to her shoulder. “Any idea how long this will take?” She kept her voice just above a whisper. If she spent too much time with her so-called savior, she just might puke. Not the best idea with her head in a fishbowl helmet.
The spider-like android tilted his head, his metallic claws twitching. “Estimated time: 2.6 minutes from the Nexus Core. Barring unforeseen complications.”
“And what are the odds of those complications happening?” Toni was almost afraid to ask. Not like the answer would help.
“Probability of interference: 73.8 percent,” JR14 replied in his normal matter-of-fact tone.
“Fantastic,” Toni mumbled. She relaxed her tightened fists so blood could rush back into her numb fingers.
